The forces of Gov. Chris Christie have hung a prez politics “keep out” sign over New Jersey, but that doesn’t hinder the grassroots allies of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who this summer opened their campaign headquarters in Hightstown and are organizing regular events for the Tea Party presidential candidate.

“Ron Paul is the leader of the liberty movement because he has virtually single handily ignited the flame of freedom and kept it burning for decades in the House of Representatives,” said Prof. Murray Sabrin, a 2008 U.S. Senate candidate and former gubernatorial candidate who has scheduled a Sept. 8 Paul fundraiser at his Fort Lee home.

Sabrin said Paul supporters' RevolutionPAC exists to help elect Ron Paul President of the United States by producing and airing hard-hitting ads during the Republican primaries and then during the general election next fall.  

Paul placed fourth in the latest Quinnipiac University poll this week, behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN), but his supporters are well-documented diehards.

“I don't see any of the candidates with that kind of organization,” said Neil Schloss, a CPA whose Hightstown office serves as base of operations for the Paul grassroots effort in New Jersey.

“We have volunteers who are underage who are setting up tweet accounts and Facebook pages, who are so impassioned by what Doctor Paul speaks about,” Schloss told PolitickerNJ.com. “These are young kids involved in politics, who understand that politics should be small and limited and that the individual is the most important part of the movement.”

Since their June headquarters opening, the Paulites have sponsored pub crawls and socials, and have scheduled a Sept. 12 debate-watching party.

This week, while the Eastern Seaboard was gutting through Hurricane Irene, the dedicated anti-big-government Paul re-upped his belief that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not really necessary.

“You know, when we had Katrina going into New Orleans, they needed ice,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “So FEMA ordered ice from the Northeast. They ordered 211 million pounds of ice. It traveled for two weeks and they finally ended up in Nebraska. And they never got it. That's a typical way of how FEMA works.”

Considering Gov. Chris Christie’s call for FEMA funding to prop up Jersey in the storm’s aftermath, Schloss told PolitickerNJ.com, “New Jersey’s taxpayers send more money to the feds and get back less. If he’s asking for the remainder of the money we’ve sent, to me that’s fine, just as long as it’s allocated from the state level so the citizens get it properly.

"If we in New Jersey get a cent back for every dollar we send, I would like to see 99 cents come back."

Philosophically, Schloss said his position is consistent with Paul’s: if taxpayers didn’t “give their money to the federal government to begin with, they could have done other things with their houses” to prepare for natural disasters. Generators. Sump pumps. Flood insurance.

"If you know the risk, it should be your responsibility if a flood should occur to take preventative measures and not the federal government's," he added.

The pushback of New Jersey’s primary date from February to June of next year doesn’t phase Paul’s people, who are ready to mobilize to other areas if need be to spread the candidate’s message. Schloss said there is no plan to bring Paul to New Jersey for a fundraiser. If he comes to this area, the congressman would likely appear in New York City.

To date, the Christie-led Republican Party has stayed out of the endorsement business and is demanding of party leaders to do the same.

A source close to the governor said Texas Gov. Rick Perry is slated to come in and meet with Christie. The governor already met with Romney at Drumthwacket.

In 2008, state Sen. Mike Doherty, (R-23), Washington Township, backed Paul for president and sources say he’s leaning toward Paul again but not yet willing to commit. Significant is Doherty’s desire to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012. At the moment, he is focused on getting re-elected in the 23^rd District, he told PolitickerNJ.com; but the prospect of getting caught on the outside of a solid top-of-the-ticket operation next June has the prospective renegade U.S. Senate candidate in momentary limbo.  

“If he runs, I will endorse him,” Sabrin said of a Doherty U.S. Senate run. “He'd be a very capable candidate against Menendez. I would love to see him get involved in the Ron Paul campaign. As a retired Army officer he would lend a lot of credibility.”